What is Fostering?
Fostering is opening your home to provide a safe place for a child or young person in need of understanding, love, care and support. It’s not always easy. The child you’re caring for will often see things very differently from you and may resist your attempts to reach out to them.
The challenge of fostering is to keep building those bridges so that you can provide the stable family environment that all children need to feel safe and secure.
The length of time a child will stay with a Foster Carer will depend on their individual circumstances. It could be for just a few nights, or placements can be made until a child reaches the age of 18 and is ready for independence.
Can I Foster?
Being a foster carer means caring for a child as part of your family. However, there are certain things you will need to consider.
• do you have the right to work in the UK?
• are you able to take care of a child or young person, either on a part-time or a full-time basis?
If you’re thinking about becoming a Foster Carer you’re likely to have lots of questions. Those that we are most frequently asked are below. If you’d like to ask us anything else, simply use the quick enquiry form and a member of the Fostering Team will get in touch.
What Makes a Foster Family?
A foster family is just like any other. It provides a shoulder to cry on when times are hard, and someone to laugh and celebrate with when life is good. Its members speak the truth, even when the truth is hard to hear. And it offers the love, forgiveness and support we all need to grow, learn and become better people.
Types of fostering
SHORT-TERM
This is a temporary placement for a child or young person, whilst consideration is given to their longer-term future. Short-term placements are often made at short notice and can last from a few days to a few months.
LONG-TERM
These are usually a pre-planned placement, where a child or young person joins a foster carer’s family, providing a stable home environment until they are ready to be independent. There is more time taken to ensure long-term placements are planned and the child and family are prepared.
SOLO CARE
Solo care is providing care for an individual child. The child has a higher level of need and requires one on one attention. Solo placements often require a two-parent family or a strong support network.
SHORT BREAKS
Short breaks are where a foster family provide a regular break for a child with a disability, giving the family a break from their day-to-day caring responsibilities. This helps families stay together.
EMERGENCY
Emergency fostering means caring for a child temporarily at very short notice. You’ll need to be supportive and nurturing to help the child settle during what will be a scary and confusing time for them.
Specialisms
DISABILITY & COMPLEX NEEDS
Progress is a disability specialist and provides bespoke support to our foster carers to enable children with additional needs to live in family homes. Disability is wide ranging but will always mean that the child will need to be understood and cared for in a slightly different way. Progress’ breadth of experience means that this is simplified and demystified, making caring for a chid with a disability a viable choice. Our step across option means that you can get to know the child before they become part of your family, building your confidence, skills and relationships, knowing that skilled back-up is always on hand.
MENTAL HEALTH
Fostering children with mental health needs requires carers who already have underpinning knowledge of mental health challenges, or those who are keen to learn and develop their knowledge around mental health and how children are supported to manage their own condition. Progress enables its foster carers through specialist support and working closely with the team around the child to achieve this.
CHILD SEXUAL EXPLOITATION
Fostering a child who is vulnerable to sexual exploitation and who displays inappropriate sexualised behaviour is a specialist area of fostering. Progress offers specialist training to support children and young people in this area.
THERAPEUTIC FOSTER CARE
Therapeutic fostering is a specialised approach to caring for children who have often experienced disrupted or traumatic childhoods, focusing on healing and supporting their emotional, psychological, and developmental needs. Our organisational approach places the child at the centre of every decision, ensuring that carers are equipped with the skills, knowledge, and ongoing support to provide consistent, trauma-informed care. This model emphasises collaboration between foster carers and a multi-disciplinary professional team, creating a network of support that prioritises stability and emotional safety.
PARENT & CHILD
This specialist role provides a stable, safe environment for new parents, helping them develop essential parenting skills and supporting both parent and baby, including acting as a safety net if needed.
Fostering FAQ's
If you’re thinking about becoming a Foster Carer, you’re likely to have lots of questions. To help you, we’ve created a list of our most frequently asked questions below – you can click on each question to open it and find out more information. To see more, visit our dedicated Fostering FAQs page.
A ‘specialist foster carer’ is a term used to describe someone who cares for a child with one or more of the following issues:
- Learning disabilities, Physical disabilities and other medical conditions
- Children with poor mental health
- Children who are vulnerable to sexual exploitation
- Children who display emotional and behavioural difficulties
Progress welcomes professionals from the health and social care sector who can offer specialist care because of their professional experience.
Many of our current specialist foster carers did not have the skills and experience initially. Progress will offer the right training programmes and support to enable you to improve and widen your skills so that you can offer specialist care.
The length of the assessment is completely dependent on you and how flexible you can be in terms of attending the initial training course and attending appointments with your designated social worker. We normally suggest around 6 months from enquiry through to panel but it can take up to 8 months.
Yes. Progress pay a very competitive package for each child placed with you. The amount varies dependent on the age and skills required for each child. Specialist care attracts a higher reward due to the additional demands of the child. Children who have additional needs also have allocated support packages in addition to their monthly maintenance payment.
This will depend on your individual circumstances, the type of fostering you wish to consider and the flexibility your employment can offer. Specialist foster care requires at least one full-time carer at home. All types of foster care require you to transport a child to and from school and to attend various meetings with professionals. If you’re unsure, contact us for a more in-depth discussion.
As a foster carer, you are self-employed. Foster carers benefit from generous tax relief. During the assessment process, you would still be entitled to benefits but would need to continue looking for employment if this is a requirement of the job-centre.
No. The only requirement for becoming a foster carer is that you have a spare bedroom. However, if you are renting a property we require written permission from your landlord giving permission to foster in their property.
It is not essential to have parenting skills prior to becoming a foster carer. However, knowledge and experience of looking after children will need to be proven during the assessment process and this can be evidenced if you have previously worked with children or have a wide range of experience in caring for family members. Progress can also offer extensive training in order for you to up-skill in areas that may be required.
Do you have any other questions about Fostering?
Fill in this quick enquiry form and one of our friendly team will call you back within two working days to discuss your enquiry.
Come and meet us
Would you like to come and talk to us, why not drop by one of our events, check the calendar below to find an event near you:
There are currently no events planned, if you would like to find out more or ask us a question, please send us a message on the form opposite.
“It’s been brilliant, you don’t realise that they are ticking things off as you go along”
Trina – Foster Carer
